Nausea and vomiting are typically induced following the administration of general anesthesia and certain drugs, for example, narcotic pain alleviation and chemotherapy drugs. Also, conditions such as vertigo, dizziness, tinnitus, motion sickness and sea-sickness cause nausea. Anti-nausea remedies currently available in the market today include anti-nausea drugs, chemotherapy, acupuncture, acupressure and electro-acupuncture.
Stimulation of various areas on the body is known to be an effective treatment method for various medical conditions. Acupuncture and acupressure are existing Chinese therapeutic techniques that involve the stimulation of certain meridians and small, finite size points on the meridians known as acupuncture points. The current acupressure treatment for the alleviation of nausea and vomiting induced by general anesthesia, narcotic pain medications, chemotherapy, vertigo, dizziness, tinnitus and motion sickness consists of stimulation of an acupuncture point on the pericardium meridian known as the PC 6 point in a single therapeutic session.
Electro-acupuncture devices use non-invasive point stimulation whereby electricity is passed through two electrodes along the acupuncture meridians or channels. An example of an electro-acupuncture device is an electrode housed in a wrist-band that is positioned on the PC 6 acupuncture point and powered by a local battery to energise the PC 6 acupuncture point of the patient for the relief of nausea and vomiting. When administered properly, electro-acupuncture devices generally cause no physical injury to the patient and provide a non-chemical, non-invasive, painless and inexpensive method of alleviating nausea.
This invention comprises the stimulation of two acupuncture points on the pericardium meridian on the ventral side of the wrist known as the pericardium meridian six point (PC 6) and pericardium meridian seven point (PC 7) by the application of an electrically generated stimulus by a negative electrode positioned on the PC 6 point and a positive electrode positioned on the PC 7 point. The PC 6 acupuncture point is located on the pericardium meridian between the palmaris longus and flexor capri radialis tendons on the PC 3 and PC 7 line. The PC 7 point is located on the pericardium meridian at the middle of the wrist crease between palmaris longus and flexor carpi radialis tendons. It was found that the simultaneous electrical stimulation of both PC 6 and PC 7 is much more effective for the prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting compared to the stimulus of the area around only the PC 6 point.